Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, vol. 1, 1931–1934, ed. Gunther Stuhlmann (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1966), entry for January1946.
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency, trans. Ray Brassier (Continuum, 2008), 128.
For an overview of the complexities and uncertainties in Arctic greening and an analysis of how vegetation changes are scale-dependent and tied to unpredictable environmental dynamics, see I. H. Myers-Smith et al., “Complexity Revealed in the Greening of the Arctic,” Nature Climate Change, no. 10 (2020).
A preliminary study of the timing of flowering season and pollination in the arctic can be found in Mark A. K. Gillespie and Elisabeth J. Cooper, “The Seasonal Dynamics of a High Arctic Plant-Visitor Network: Temporal Observations and Responses to Delayed Snow Melt,” Arctic Science 8, no. 3 (2022). An earlier analysis of potential ecosystem-wide disruptions and critical risks due to mismatches in Arctic plant and pollinator phenology can be found in N. M. Schmidt et al., “An Ecological Function in Crisis? The Temporal Overlap between Plant Flowering and Pollinator Function Shrinks as the Arctic Warms,” Ecography, no. 39 (2016).
For an introduction to the significance of DNA metabarcoding in biodiversity science, see K. Deiner et al., “Environmental DNA Metabarcoding: Transforming How We Survey Animal and Plant Communities,” Molecular Ecology 26, no. 21 (2017). For a more recent analysis of how pollen DNA metabarcoding is being used to understand the global restructuring of plant-pollinator networks and its potential for monitoring biodiversity under rapid environmental changes, see K. L. Bell et al., “Plants, Pollinators and Their Interactions under Global Ecological Change: The Role of Pollen DNA Metabarcoding,” Molecular Ecology 32, no. 23 (2023).
For an analysis of how Arctic warming disrupts plant-pollinator interactions, see N. M. Schmidt et al., “An Ecological Function in Crisis? The Temporal Overlap between Plant Flowering and Pollinator Function Shrinks as the Arctic Warms,” Ecography 39, no. 12 (2016). This article shows how temporal mismatches between flowering and pollinator activity threaten functional ecological stability.
This quote and all subsequent quotes emerged from writing this text (and two others) with the scientists mentioned.
Key insights into the challenges posed by “walls of complexity” in scientific inquiry can be found in, for example: Marta Bertolaso and Mattia Della Rocca, “On the Processes of Growth of the Living Being and the Relevance of Relational Categories to Understand It,” Rivista Di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica 109, no. 2 (2017): 262.
The evolving challenges of “peak complexity” in biology are comprehensively addressed in Philip Ball, How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology (University of Chicago Press, 2023). For an exploration of the theoretical dimensions driving the complexity crisis in cancer science, see Marta Bertolaso and Bernhard Strauss, “Redefining the Problem: The Theory Dimension of Cancer,” in Rethinking Cancer: A New Paradigm for the Postgenomics Era, ed. Bernhard Strauss et al. (MIT Press, 2021).
The first paper reporting on the quantity of microbial cells in the human gut was T. D. Luckey, “Introduction to Intestinal Microecology,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 25, no. 12 (1972).
Large metagenomic studies from European and American consortia include, for example, Junjie Qin et al., “A Human Gut Microbial Gene Catalogue Established by Metagenomic Sequencing,” Nature, no. 464 (2010); and The Human Microbiome Project Consortium, “Structure, Function and Diversity of the Healthy Human Microbiome,” Nature, no. 486 (2012).
The first paper describing the invention of the SHIME technology was K. Molly, M. Van de Woestyne, and W. Verstraete, “Development of a 5-step Multi-chamber Reactor as a Simulation of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem,” Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 39, no. 2 (1993). A more recent analysis of in vitro simulations of the human gastrointestinal tract is Kristel De Paepe et al., “SHIME®: Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem,” Trends in Food Science & Technology, no. 116 (2021).
Arumugam’s reflection on the microbiome in evolutionary time finds ground in, for example, Howard Ochman and Allan C. Wilson, “Evolution in Bacteria: Evidence for a Universal Substitution Rate in Cellular Genomes,” Journal of Molecular Evolution 26, no. 1–2 (1987).
For an account of the development of single-cell sequencing technologies, see Axel A. Almet et al., “The Landscape of Cell-Cell Communication Through Single-Cell Transcriptomics,” Current Opinion in Systems Biology, no. 26 (2021).
See Farbod Shojaei and Napoleone Ferrara, “Role of the Microenvironment in Tumor Growth and in Refractoriness/Resistance to Anti-angiogenic Therapies,” Drug Resistance Updates 11, no. 6 (2008). For journalistic coverage, see “Cancer Drug Avastin Loses US Approval,” BBC News, November 18, 2011.
For a frequently cited review on the topic of the tumor microenvironment, see Kristian Pietras and Arne Ostman, “Introduction to Tumor-Stroma Interactions,” Experimental Cell Research 319, no. 11 (2013). A more recent overview is Karin E. de Visser and Johanna A. Joyce, “The Evolving Tumor Microenvironment: From Cancer Initiation to Metastatic Outgrowth,” Cancer Cell 41, no. 3 (2023).
Bonnie Shulman, “What If We Change Our Axioms? A Feminist Inquiry into the Foundations of Mathematics,” Configurations 4, no. 3 (Fall 1996).
In Indian philosophy, the Nyāya school systematically structures reasoning to ascertain truths through inference and sensory perception, promoting a nuanced understanding that deepens beyond simple binary distinctions of true or false. Jain philosophy's Anekāntavāda emphasizes the many-sidedness of truth, and its syādvāda doctrine encourages recognizing partial truths and reconciling multiple viewpoints.
Daoist and Confucian traditions in China emphasize process-oriented views of reality. Daoism views objects as dynamic elements rooted in the constant flux and balance of the Dao, encouraging a perception of the world as interconnected processes. Confucian relational ontology prioritizes roles, relationships, and interdependence, centering understanding on dynamic interactions—such as those defined by familial duties or the practice of li (ritual propriety)—rather than fixed categories.
Shulman, “What If We Change Our Axioms?,” 442.
Shulman, “What If We Change Our Axioms?,” 451.
Allen Ginsberg, “Howl,” in Howl and Other Poems (City Lights Books, 1956), 17.
For a deeper analysis of the historical relationship between epistemic shifts in science and the international political order, see Bentley B. Allan, Scientific Cosmology and International Orders (Cambridge University Press, 2018).